Everybody loves homemade, but who has the time to make everything by hand? I guess I do - I'm on a mission to make everyday foods from scratch. Well at least once... I will make an item from scratch, compare the outcome with the store-bought version, and decide whether to Bake or Buy.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Tomato Soup

It was a cool, rainy weekend in the coastal Carolina area and I was craving some warm, creamy soup. I was about to heat up a can of tomato when I thought, what the hey, I have lots of canned tomatoes from last summer, let's make some from scratch!

Easy to make - saute your onions and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes until translucent.

Add your tomato paste and flour and then slowly add some water from the tomatoes while stirring to get out the lumps. Once you get a smooth consistency add all the tomatoes. Simmer 20-30 minutes.

Puree with a hand blender or blend it in a blender/food processor. Add the half and half and enjoy.

Optional: Garnish with fresh basil and croutons. I used some homemade croutons!

I can't even begin to explain how much better the homemade soup was. My husband said in comparison the Campbell's tasted like ketchup, but bad. I made mine with half skim milk and half water. The homemade was just so much more tomato-y and had some texture to it.

The price didn't come out much different. My recipe made more soup - you could easily half this if you are making it for yourself and use a small can of diced tomatoes. It costs a little more to make your own, but TOTALLY worth it in my opinion.

Size

Cost

Cost/Cup

Campbell's Tomato Soup

21.5 oz

$1.12

$0.42

Homemade

32 oz

$1.92

$0.48

Overall, the homemade tomato soup took about 40 minutes from start to finish, but only about 10 minutes of hands-on work. I have to say it was really, really easy.

Hey Bethany! Love your blog (and following your food frames with port city foodies!) Just started to officially follow your blog--would love for you to follow me over at Dressing on the Side www.ncdots.com local bloggers need to stick together!

ps. LOVE making homemade soups. I haven't found one yet that isn't better homemade.

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